Scottish duo to play at Zandari Festa

The Twistettes / Courtesy of KM Photography

By John Redmond

The international music showcase Zandari Festa 2017 will take place at 10 selected venues around Hongik University in western Seoul, from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1.

This year’s event will see 140 acts from 25 countries performing to music lovers, journalists and global industry professionals.

Each fall, Zandari Festa brings together musicians and industry delegates from around the world for concerts and conferences at unique venues in the Hongdae area.

The festival will be attended by music industry professionals from more than 20 different countries including representatives from renowned international festivals including SXSW, Primavera Sound, Liverpool Sound City, The Great Escape, Clokenflap, Exit and Canadian Music Week (CMW).

Started in 2012, Zandari Festa quickly established itself as Korea’s top music showcase festival.

Along with showcasing established acts and up-and-comers from Korea’s burgeoning indie scene, Zandari has placed a greater emphasis on becoming a truly global event.

This year’s event welcomes Scottish psychobilly duo The Twistettes, formed by sisters Jo D’arc (bass/vocals) and Nicky D’arc (drums) among its international lineup.

The Korea Times spoke with The Twistettes about their inspiration to play Zandari.

Q: How did you learn about Zandari Festa? What made you apply to be a part of the festival?

A: We have heard so many good things about Korea and Zandari Festa. Our friends Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5 performed at Zandari Festa last year and they suggested we put ourselves forward for this year. They had an amazing time and really inspired us to go for it.

Q: Are you familiar with Korea’s indie scene at all? Are there any particular Korean bands, labels or music industry professionals that you’re hoping to meet or hang out with while you’re here?

A: We have been listening to lots of Korean acts, especially those playing the festival. The scene seems to be amazing with lots of very talented artists. We went to see Wasted Johnny’s and 57 when they toured the U.K. this past spring and would love to see them both again.

We love loud, gritty music so we will be looking out for this. We also love strong female-fronted acts so bands like DIEALRIGHT look really good too.

Q: The Twistettes recently received some major attention for a missing instrument. Can you tell us what happened?

A: Yes, it even made the BBC news. It was crazy. We were traveling back from a gig in London on the train and my bass was taken. Someone had lifted it from the luggage rack and got off the train and I didn’t realize until I arrived in Glasgow.

When I got home, I put a post on Facebook about what had happened. By the time I woke up the next day the post had been shared many times. This kept building till it had been shared over 5,000 times and a crowdfunding page had been launched to replace the bass.

Two days later the person who took the guitar got in touch with me to say he had it and had taken it for safekeeping as he thought it was lost property. It was all very strange but I was just so glad to get it back.

Q: What made the bass so valuable to the band?

A: We’re a distorted bass-and-drums two-piece band, so it is a very big part of our sound. The type of bass and distortion pedal, which was also stolen, are really important. It was devastating to think we would have to go forward without these.

Q: With 140 bands playing at Zandari Festa, music fans have lots of decisions to make. Why should fest-goers in Korea check out The Twistettes?

A: We have to agree, it’s definitely a world-class lineup and there’s so much cool music going on. All we can say is we are super hyped for this opportunity and will bring a fast-paced and energetic set of punk rock to the festival.

We have never played in this part of the world before so we are really excited and hope we can put on a memorable show for everyone involved.

The Twistettes’ Zandari Festa showcase takes place on Oct. 1 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Gogos2.

Ticket prices for Zandari Festa vary from 30,000 won to 100,000 won, depending on the type of pass.

Visit zfesta.com or facebook.com/zandarifesta for more ticketing and venue information.